Trader Joe’s is lifting the veil behind one of its most recognizable sounds.
In the latest episode of the series Inside Trader Joe’s podcast, co-hosts Tara Miller and Matt Sloan discussed the grocery chain’s doorbells, revealing why employees ring them and what each sound means.
Miller said she recently visited a Trader Joe’s location in New Jersey where she went around asking new crew members what the punches meant during training.
She recalled their answers: “One bell means you need another cashier. Two bells mean you need someone to find the item. And three means you need a manager.”
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Sloan went on to explain that the bell system was created with a “maritime aspect” in mind, as crews on ships would use the bell to send out “signals and communications.”
“And we’ve been holding on to it for decades,” Sloan said. “The bell was cheaper than the public address system, and I think they sound a little more interesting.”
Trader Joe’s Shop.
Francis Specker/Bloomberg via Getty
He went on to say that the meaning behind the bell “can vary from shop to shop”, with one ring sounding “the most urgent”, while three rings “sounds really special and sometimes like ordering from a menu”.
He said he had even heard of a “four-bell situation.”
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“In my shop, [four bells] means everyone is on deck at the front, bag carriers at each cash register,” he explained. “The lines are being built, [and] we want to help customers get into their day with their groceries. Everyone come forward. That’s what I saw with the four bells [situation].”
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Trader Joe’s Shop.
Jeenah Moon/Bloomberg via Getty
Miller said the bell system is much easier to hear and understand than the intercom announcements at other grocery chains.
“When I’m in stores — not our stores, but sometimes other stores — and there’s like an intercom announcement throughout the building, sometimes you can’t hear it. It’s kind of distorted. But when you hear that one ring, it’s very clear,” she said.
Sloan agrees on the effectiveness of the bell signal.
“You hear. Every crew member knows and can use it,” he added. “Simple, effective and open to everyone. That brass bell sound, actually, that tone breaks through many other sounds, and there are a lot of sounds in our stores.”
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The long-lasting system is one that both team members are proud of. Miller still finds it “fascinating” that Trader Joe’s continued to use this communication method over the years as it “grew to become a national neighborhood chain.”
“It’s something that connects us to our past, but also keeps us very much in the present,” she said. “Like anybody at any cash register can ring that bell and say, ‘Hey, I need help. I need a certain kind of help.’ It’s an interesting bit of language that when you’re Trader Joe’s makes perfect sense.”
Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education